


Choices

by Captain_Revo



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Gen, Post-Movie: Star Trek Generations (1994)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 02:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20127676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Revo/pseuds/Captain_Revo
Summary: Guinan has an unexpected visitor in a bar on Rigel X





	Choices

It was well past midnight, and the twin blue moons of Rigel X had risen over the city bathing the city in a gentle glow. The last few customers had walked, or in some cases staggered, out of the bar, and Guinan was busy wiping down the tables and stacking the chairs. The rain outside lashed down against the windows making a rhythmic sound that she found quite comforting. After spending so many years on a starship, the sounds of nature was a welcome change for her. The night temperature was mild and comfortable. He blue dress flicked around her ankles as she smoothly darted around the tables going about her routine.

It had been a year since the _Enterprise-D_ had been destroyed while trying to stop Tolian Soran and the Duras Sisters, Lursa and B'Etor, in the Veridian system from killing millions of people. While they constructed a new ship she had felt the need to stretch her legs and be planet bound for a while. Jean- Luc had invited her to stay at his home in La Barre, but she had decided to travel further afield. There was no shortages of places to go, but when an old acquaintance offered her ownership of a bar on Rigel X, she found it hard to refuse. Ten Forward was a lot of fun, and she dearly missed the crew, but she found starfleet types a bit stuffy, if she was being honest, and there was only so many times you could hear the same stories being retold. You get some _interesting_ characters pass through the Rigel system and she was enjoying the experience, even if it wasn't the safest area on town. It was smaller than Ten Forward and much rougher, but she kept it clean and respectable. She had been trying to attract a higher class of clientele, but it was early days. She made sure no drugs exchanged hands and trouble makers were ejected faster than a starship at warp 9. It was originally called _The Black Hole_ but she re-named it _The Nexus_. It was an inside joke that no one got, but as the energy ribbon's return was directly responsible for her being here, it sounded like an appropriate, and fitting name for a gathering place.

A loud knock came from the transparent aluminium door causing it to rattle. She turned away from the table she was cleaning to see a hooded figure being drenched in the rain. She was not surprised. Drunk men would often try to get a late drink in. She hated turning away paying customers but even she had her limits. 

"We're closed. Come back tomorrow." she shouted out apologetically.

"Please, I was here earlier, I left my latinum pouch." he replied.

She sighed and walked over to the door to get a better look at his face. She saw through the rain splashed panel the face of a young Suliban boy, probably only fifteen or sixteen years of age. She recognised him as he had been coming in recently over the last few days, only ordering a water, but he always looked a little nervous, and didn't talk to anyone. He just sat in the corner, and looked around, seemingly with the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. She had tried to speak to him on a couple of occasions but he only clammed up more. She turned her head to where he had been sitting and could just make out some sort of cloth bag on the floor. She turned back to the boy and looked into his eyes. She saw a boy in need of help, so she let him in.

"You picked a hell of a night to become forgetful, kid." she said, walking over to the bag. She picked it and up and noticed it was empty, "And I'm not sure it was worth getting wet for." As she turned around she saw the boy had a nausicaan disruptor pistol aimed at her chest. His hand was shaking slightly, either due to the cold and rain, or because of gravity of what he was doing. "Ahh, I see. Pretty clever of you." a subtle smile creeping across her lips. "You come in, stakeout the bar, leave an item to get me to open the door and take all my credits. Looks like you thought this through, kid. I got to say, I'm impressed." she said in a cheery voice.

He took down his hood. "Give me all of your money. Latinum, credits, everything." he said waving the weapon about that he had pulled from his pocket.

Guinan looked at the boy calmly before she raised a finger, "Now, there we have a problem. You see this is a time locked safe," she said spinning her finger in the direction of the safe behind the wall, "and it doesn't open for about twenty minutes."

"You're lying." he said, a wave of panic in his voice.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not. Come see for yourself." She slowly moved towards the safe. "It has a timer above the palm scanner." He looked at the screen and could see the readout indicated a little under 19 minutes left. She could see the boy was on the verge of a full meltdown. Guinan remained perfectly calm. "Waiting isn't an issue. No one will be coming in at this hour. All we have to do is wait." she said trying to reassure him.

The boy gathered his thoughts. He went and re-locked the door, still pointing the pistol at her. "Fine. We... we'll wait." he stammered

They sat in silence for a time. The boy kept alternating between looking at the time and glancing back towards the door nervously. His pistol never taken off of her. 

After a time she broke the silence. "What's your name, kid." she asked in a friendly manner.

"None of your business." he snapped.

"That's an odd name." she replied quickly. He looked on unamused. "My name is Guinan." The boy began pacing about. She took a closer look at the pistol and noted its features. "You can sit down if you want. I can fix you a drink?"

"Just stop talking to me." he said in an agitated state, biting his lip, and twitching his free hand.

"Mind if I get one myself?" she asked grabbing at a bottle. He barely had time to speak before she had poured herself a shot of green liquid. She took a sip and sighed happily. "There's nothing I like more than having a nice drink after a tough day, and let me tell you, kid, this has been a tough day. It all started-"

The boy did not let her finish as she closed the distance and pointed the gun right at her face. "I told you to shut up." Guinan looked down the barrel and smiled at him. After a moment he asked "Why aren't you scared?" 

"Kid, I'm a lot older than I look, and I've seen some stuff, you know. Galaxy ending stuff." Most people exaggerate about things, but this was one instance where there was no need for hyperbole. "I'm not afraid of you." she said nonchalantly.

"Maybe you should be. I work for the Orion Syndicate." he said, puffing out his chest. The very name Orion Syndicate struck fear into the hearts of all that heard it. A ruthless crime organisation, involved in drugs, assassinations, and trafficking to name but a few and had claimed to have killed more people than the Tarellian plague. They had a well earned reputation of being both cruel, and efficient. You do not cross the Syndicate and expect to survive the week.

"That's the thing," she started, "it's called the Orion syndicate, and yet I never see an Orion as a member. It's like they have a major identity crisis. A real branding issue."

"....What?" he eventually said, looking on dumbfounded. '_Who the hell was this woman?'_ he thought to himself. "I've got a weapon aimed at you. I could kill you at any moment, and I just told you I work for the Orion Syndicate, and you're... making jokes." he said trying to impart the seriousness of the situation into her.

"I'm serious. Branding is very important to an expanding business." she said whimsically. She looked the the Suliban and could see her attempts to lighten the mood for having little effect. She sighed again and went for a different tact. "Well unless you intend to shoot me, and I don't think you will, I don't have anything to be worried about, do I? As for the Syndicate, it wouldn't be the first time I've had dealings with them. You just have to know how to handle them."

"I suppose you're going to tell me that I'm not going to take your earnings either? That I'm not going to get away with it?"

A huge grin broke out across her face. "Oh, no, I want you to take it. In fact, I'm not letting you leave here until you take it."

_'She's not letting me! I thought I was the one holding her captive' _the thoughts raced across his mind trying to work out the angle on this unusual woman.

She could see the confusion in his face. This was definitely not going the way he had planned it. "You're Suliban." she said

"What of it?" he said defensively. Suliban were usually not well liked in this region of space. His species was now predominately refugees that the other star systems looked down on as little more than alien trash. They had no home, after it became uninhabitable centuries earlier, and when a group of Suliban called the Cabal in the 22nd century tried to undermine history through terrorist acts, they had become feared and shunned as outcasts, despite the Cabal being extinct for well over a hundred years, and regardless of how well they personally acted. They had no identity, no purpose, and one cared about them. Fear was all he had left; the fear people had of him, and the fear he could use on others.

"We got a lot in common, you and I." she said her tone inclusive and understanding. "Neither of has has a homeworld, both looking for the best this life can offer, and I think both of us like getting into trouble too." she said a little mischievous grin on her face. 

"Your homeworld? You're not human?" he asked, slightly lowering his weapon.

"El Aurian, we just look like humans. My world was destroyed around a century ago, by the Borg." she replied softly. Even after all this time it still hurt. The thought of the Borg swarming through her home system still filled her with dread. She looked into his eyes and saw a frightened boy in way over his head still clinging to defiance and his weapon as his only shield.

"So, now you understand me. You know what I've been through. You want to be my friend, is that it?" he said sarcastically.

"I do want to be your friend." she said genuinely. "We can never have enough friends. As for knowing you, I can't claim to know what you've been through, but I've seen that look a hundred times, kid. Someone who has had a hard life, struggled to get by, and had to turn to some people they might not want to, just to survive."

"hard life." he said almost laughing. You don't know the half of it."

She nodded before saying, "I'd like to hear." No one had ever wanted to hear his life, cared enough about him to worry about his problems. 

"I....I...." the words not forming in his mouth.

"Why don't we sit down and let's start this again?" she said gently, before pulling out a chair and sitting down. She interlocked her fingers and waited patiently.

The boy stood rigid, no sure what to do. He eventually moved towards the table and slowly sat down too, before placing his weapon on the table, but still within reach. "My name is Guinan, what's yours? 

He paused for a long time before eventually his name crept out. "Saven" he said softly.

"Pleased to meet you, Saven."

"I.... don't want to steal your money, or hurt you, but the.... the Syndicate forced me too. You're new here and they thought you would make an easy target for me. This is my... first assignment. If I don't complete it, they'll.... they'll kill me." he said tears forming in his eyes. The words getting caught in his throat.

"Then leave. Go far away from here. It's a big galaxy and despite what they say the Syndicate is not all knowing. It's very easy to disappear in space. I hear it's pretty big."

"I Can't. I don't have a choice." he said.

"Yes, you do, absolutely you do." she insisted. "We all have choices. Every moment of every day we have an opportunity to make a series of choices, even if it starts with a simple choice to sit down or remain standing, to talk to a friend, or to be silent, and those choices make a tapestry that defines your life. Never let anyone tell you that you can't change your destiny, or that you don't have a choice."

"I don't have any currency. I can barely afford food. No one wants to hire a... Suliban." he spat the name of his species out, whether cursing his heritage, those who unfairly treated him with such hatred, or both, she could not be sure. "I don't know what to do without the Syndicate." he said on the verge of breaking down.

"Fortunately, I do." she said rising to her feet and moving towards the safe. "It's been approximately twenty minutes wouldn't you say? The timer window should be open." she added, pressing her hand against the touch panel. There was a clicking sound and the door to the safe swung open. She took out the contents which was inside and placed them on the bar. "There's some latinum, some darsecs, a few isiks, and even one Bajoran lita. Take it. It's enough to get you off this rock for sure."

The boy looked on in shock. He picked up his pistol and rose to his feet and moved towards her and took the contents of the emptied safe and placed them in his bag.

"Go to the spaceport and ask for Travin, a Denobulan, he's a friend. He'll get you passage away from her and out of the Syndicates grasp."

"Thank you, Guinan." he said almost giddy. For the first time he felt he had a choice. 

"One word of advice, Saven, if I may. If you're going to try to rob somebody then its usually an idea to use a weapon without a cracked power core."

He looked down at his weapon sheepishly. "You knew all along?"

She shrugged. "I suspected what you had planned before I opened the door. I only knew the weapon wasn't going to work a few minutes ago."

"And you still let me in? Why?" he asked.

"Because I saw someone in need of help, and I don't turn away good customers." She could see he was beginning to cry. She moved closer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be okay, Saven."

"How can I thank you?" he asked.

"Live a long life far away from here. That's all the thanks I need." she replied. He nodded his head and walked towards the door. He opened it and went back outside where the rain had stopped. He turned back to wave to her, and then he was gone into the night.

Two days had passed since the incident. The night air had turned cold and the wind blew outside that could be heard over the Kasseelian opera that was being played over the bar's speakers. Guinan was again preparing to close for the night, when two large men walked in. One appeared human except for some faint yellow spots on his face. He had a bald head and dressed in fine black clothes. The other was a stocky fellow, with greyish skin and had a large ridge running down his head and nose, and small spikes protruding from his chin. His attire was brown and green and much less formal and bulky, probably wearing some sort of armour underneath. The last remaining barfly, a Kelpien, took one look at them, swigged the rest of his drink and scurried out. 

"I was just about to close for the night." she said to the two without looking up.

"You're new here and you need to pay your taxes." came the stern voice of the bald man.

"Is that right?" she said, feigning shock. 

"It is, for our continued protection of your property. We sent our associate to you two days ago, but he never returned. I don't know where he is, or if he took your contribution, but we will need to take it again. Rules are rules." he said confidently. His tone was that of a man well educated and refined.

"Fortunately, I don't require protection, so you too can run along."

"I beg to differ." replied the stocky man, he said drawing a phase pistol. The power cell of this one was definitely working.

Unbeknownst to the two men, Guinan pressed a small device on inside of her clothes. Two compartments in the ceiling slide open and a pair of disruptor cannons lowered into position. They were twice the size of a standard rifle. They creaked as they rotated into position and locked onto the shady figures. They both froze at the sight of them.

"Now, I've never actually tested these, but the Ferengi I bought them off of assured me that there is no finer cannon in this sector. Admittedly Ferengi have been known to exaggerate, but I think it's fair to say your friends will be taking you back in a hypo spray tube if you don't leave my bar immediately." she said, steel in her voice.

"Do you have any idea who we are." shouted the bald man.

"As a matter of fact, I do. You're Kevas Klab, living in the Mankor sector, and your friend here is Mel'non, currently based on a stolen Mirradorn attack ship in a docking port on the south side of the city undergoing repairs. You both work for Thadial Bokar as members of the Orion Syndicate." she replied confidently. 

The two men looked on stunned. "How do you know that?" grunted Mel'non.

"I'm a good listener, and while I tend bar I hear things, and I know all about you." she said. "Now, if you two boys don't leave right now, I'm going to get _really_ annoyed. This bar is off limits to you and your Syndicate buddies, and if anything should happen to it, If a _single_ chip appears on my windows, I promise there will be hell to pay."

"No one refuses the Syndicate." he said taking a step forward. The cannon twitched slightly and he backed away. 

"I just did." she said, a deadly resolve in her voice. A slight hum emitted from the cannons.

"Okay, okay, we'll leave you alone." said Kevas, just don't shoot." The two men scrambled out of her bar. Guinan pressed the button again to retract the cannons, took a deep breath, and went back to closing up for the night as if nothing had happened at all. '_At least the kid got away' _she thought to herself_._ She knew that standing up to the Syndicate was a risk, but she knew that you never give in to bullies, and never give an inch to cowards or they will control you forever. And should any of them be stupid enough to try something, well, after her many centuries, she was not without resources and skills of her own. She was old when the Syndicate was nothing more than one wealthy Orion family smuggling contraband from Qo'noS to Orios through the Borderlands and she wasn't going to let some thugs push her about. '_Just another day on Rigel X.' _she thought as she locked the door, and switched off the lights.


End file.
